When considering significant changes to the way one farms, there’s nothing like a couple acres of convincer, a template for the potential offered up by tapping into the land’s ability to build soil health in an economically viable manner utilizing livestock and perennial plants. Mark Erickson points out just such a personal proving ground on… Read More →
Sign Up for E-mail Delivery of The Land Line Report Accuses Corporate Dairy of ‘Greenwashing’ (6/1/26) The Wisconsin Examiner reports on a study showing that claims by the largest meat and dairy companies that their practices are sustainable are mostly “greenwashing” and are based on unsubstantiated claims. Highlights: The report, published in the journal PLOS… Read More →
After Nitrate Lawsuit, Minnesota Opens Farm Fertilizer Rule for Public Comment (2/18/26) The Star Tribune reports that the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is seeking public comment on its 2019 groundwater protection rule, a standard that governs how and when fertilizer is applied. Highlights: It’s the first step in the MDA’s review of the standard… Read More →
Note: In April 2023, the Land Stewardship Project joined 10 other groups in filing a petition calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to use its emergency authority under the Safe Drinking Water Act to address the fact that nitrate contamination is causing “an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health” in the karst region of… Read More →
When Minnesota lawmakers return to Saint Paul Feb. 17 for the start of the next state legislative session, Land Stewardship Project’s members and organizers will be active in pushing forward our values and priorities. Before we go into what issues we will be focusing on in 2026, I’d like to provide some political context and… Read More →
My great-great-grandfather moved to Houston County, Minnesota, at the end of the Civil War in 1865. I am blessed to be a lifelong resident of Houston County, living on part of our family’s Century Farm, between Houston and Money Creek. All my siblings are farmers in Houston County. Six generations of our family have hunted… Read More →
At a time when we’re all scanning the dark horizon of recession land for any economic spark, local food systems look to be a flare-up that’s got some staying power. The past several weeks have been full of signs that both in Minnesota and nationally producing and consuming food in our own collective backyard isn’t… Read More →
Dec. 18: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities National Soil Erosion Rates on Track to Repeat Dust Bowl-era Losses Eight Times Over (12/16/20) Unhealthy farming practices and more extreme weather spurred by climate change will lead to an increased rate of soil erosion across the U.S. in the coming decades, according… Read More →
Outraged Farmers Blame Ag Monopolies as Catastrophic Collapse Looms (9/9/25) Farm Journal describes a tumultuous meeting in Brookland, Ark., where 400-plus farmers met with field representatives from the offices of U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, and U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, along with a representative sent by Gov. Sarah Sanders. The farmers raised… Read More →
During yesterday’s otherwise excellent field day at the USDA’s soil conservation lab in Morris, the “S” word reared its ugly head. “S” as in our best farmland needs to be “sacrificed” in the name of food and fuel production, leaving room for only an odd corner here and there to provide a smattering of natural… Read More →
